JAMESTOWN — The music of Patchwork Jack reflects the band's name: Despite origins in folk, their sound also includes the influences of Texas country, Latin ballads, and Romani swing.
The band’s name primarily comes from the main songwriter and guitarist, Shane “Bob” Lory, who released a solo folk song called “Patchwork Jack” before the band’s formation.
“That idea got bouldered into the full band once we got more people involved,” states Lory, “Patchwork sort of representing a fusion of genres and influences from all over the place. And Jack… we used to call each other Jack in high school. Everyone was Jack, so the Patchwork is all-inclusive. Anyone can hop on.”
The community aspect of the band has been its anchoring element since the beginning, with many of the members already being close friends. With the band embracing its lineup and its audience as a community, they want to emphasize the fun of their music.
“One huge component for some of us is being part of some community jams that were going on for a decade before the band started,” says the band’s accordion player Barak Ben-Amots, “just really finding the joy in getting into a room together and playing songs you don’t know that well and making a lot of noise and a lot of fun together.”
The band’s lineup is flexible and fluid. They sometimes perform as a duo and sometimes as a full group. The primary members of the lineup are Lory, Ben-Amots, cellist Tommy Diaz, mandolin player Shane “Gentle” Nelson, and bassist Jenny West.
“Four out of five of us live all in the same clusters of blocks in the same neighborhoods,” says Lory about the proximity of the group to each other. “It’s a really nice ‘walk down the street and play music with your friends’ kind of band practice, and also affords us the opportunity to be together all the time and strengthen the bonds that make the music special.”
With the band’s variety in lineup and style, they’ve performed a few gigs advertising genres they didn’t often play. For them, playing the music and enjoying the experience is the important part.
“Sometimes, all the stuff that comes with being a working band, while exciting in its own right, also can be a distraction from the core joy of just playing music together,” says Shane. “Practice allows us to relax and do our thing and not be worried about tweaking our sound. We can just get together and jam, and it’s awesome.”
Patchwork Jack will be performing at the Jamestown Mercantile, located at 108 Main Street in Jamestown, on Friday, March 13, starting at 7 p.m.
